Have you
ever met someone and after five minutes of talking to them
wanted to jump on board whatever it is they are trying to
get done?
Spend a few minutes talking to Harlan Schwartz,
and you will feel that way. Schwartz is one of the masterminds
behind Tulane University's squash team and his enthusiasm
and energy regarding his team, and squash in general, is
contagious. He is a co-captain with Lane Golden. A
former racquetball player, Schwartz tried playing squash
and never looked back.
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| Tulane's
first team to compete at the CSA: Lane Golden, Jordi
Goodman,
Ben Zucker, Justin Grant,
Alex Margolick, Harlan Schwartz. photo: ©2008
Courtesy
Tulane Squash .
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"My friend from Boston introduced me to the sport," Schwartz
said. "From the first time I played, squash I pretty much
refused to play racquetball. It wasn't as fun for me."
That was in the spring of 2006. Schwartz
had just decided he didn't want to go out for a third season
of crew at Tulane, where he was the "world's tallest coxswain," and needed something
new to do. Hurricane Katrina hit, and after spending one
quarter a different school in Virginia as a result of the
disaster, he started trying to form a squash team when he
returned.
GENESIS OF A TEAM
"Once I started getting
the basics of how to put a team together, I started trying
to do so," Schwartz
said. "Tulane
has one squash court. We put a sign up by the court so anyone
who wanted to play could sign up for the team. Tulane has
a pretty good percentage of people from the Northeast, and
until now a lot of guys would have to give up any sort of
squash they had played growing up. Now we can channel that
into them getting better."
By spring of 2007, word about the
squash team had spread and between four and eight players
consistently showed up for scheduled practices, all on Tulane's
one squash court which led to plenty of time sitting around
the court and talking. That wasn't all bad, as the players
got a chance to get to know each other, and are now all close
friends.
Some of the players wanted to compete in
the Emerging Teams division of Nationals at Yale last year,
but only four players, of the required five, could commit
to going. Then, a couple of coincidences helped move things
along.
THE INSPIRATION
"The weekend of Nationals
in February, 2007, I was going to New York City to interview
for an internship," Schwartz
said. "I
decided to make long weekend of it. I went to Yale during
a night of the tournament and there was no play going on.
I asked a women standing outside if Dave Talbott or Ron beck
were around. She said they were in a meeting [it was the
annual coaches meeting] and asked if I would like to speak
with them. I got to talk to all the coaches and got support."
Schwartz also got to meet some collegiate
players and watch them during their matches.
"I went back to Tulane and reported to the guys," Schwartz
explained. "The guys were reassured that there are different
levels of play in the intercollegiates. That was really exciting
for us to see that it would be possible for us to compete."
Schwartz
got the internship he interviewed for that weekend and spent
the summer working at Bear Stearns. Bear Stearns hosted a
banquet for college squash a few days after his internship
ended. Schwartz attended and was able to meet more coaches
and players, and tell them what his team in New Orleans was
trying to do.
THE DEBUT
Tulane will play at Nationals,
thanks in part to a Bear Grant, given to emerging teams to
help them bring a team to the event. A happy coincidence,
though the team's Bear Grant is unrelated to Schwartz's internship.
So
far Tulane has not had the chance to compete against other
schools, so they gauge themselves against each other.
Alex
Margolick, a freshman, played squash in high school and learned
the sport at Meadow Mill Athletic Club in Baltimore. He wanted
to continue playing once in college, but first had to find
out where he could.
"I Googled 'Tulane Squash' and found Harlan's name," Margolick
said. "He was pretty excited to find more people that play
squash. I started playing on the one court and met a lot
of people."
COMMITMENT
Now Margolick helps his teammates
continue to learn the game and also teaches them drills,
no longer just on Tulane's single court. The team has regular
practices at the Riverside Hilton Health Club, 10 minutes
away from campus.
"People come to practice, and if they don't it's for a legitimate
reason," Schwartz said. "The thing that's really great about
it is there is a real sense of group. Everyone gets along
really well. It's nice to see it developing into an actual
team."
Part of that means solidifying that the team
will remain in existence and actually continue to grow once
both captains and the other seniors graduate this spring.
"We have three freshmen from the Northeast," Schwartz said. "They
all played in high school. It's exciting to have these guys
that are freshman. It's not as though one of them has to
carry the team after we graduate. Instead we have three players
who are the future of the team."
So the future of Tulane squash
looks bright. There are even hopes of getting a women's team
going eventually. It appears a given that Schwartz will keep
playing squash as he is moving to an area where squash is
known as more than a vegetable: New York to work for Bear
Stearns upon graduation. And who knows, Tulane might surprise
some teams at Nationals. Well, they'll surprise everyone
they play since they have not been able to compete against
another team yet due to being so far away.
Schwartz said what
he is most looking forward to at Nationals is "officially
becoming part of the squash community and to be on the board
with some sort of a record."
That record should be a good
one if their game is anywhere close to their work ethic and
passion.
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